“According to the reporter, she has several women who have told their stories…there are…well, Landon tends to pay these women off and have them sign NDAs.” She chuckles softly. “They get money and contracts. I get a dead dog and a note.”
“So, you think this is a warning to stop you from speakin’ to this reporter?” Hugh asks.
I blister at the question. “Don’t you?”
Sarah is surprised—and that hurts because she doesn’t believe I’m with her on this crusade of justice. The man I used to be—or rather, the boy I used to be was someone she trusted. Not anymore. I ruined that. Destroyed who I used to be for Sarah, and that is one of my biggest regrets—along with taking away the sense of safety she once had with me.
“I do,” he says emphatically. “But I’d like to know what Dr. Kirk thinks.”
“I agree with you, Sheriff.”
“Dr. Kirk, I need you to take care of yourself,” Hugh says somberly.
“I always do,” she snaps.
“Dove, you can’t be alone at your place. It’s far away from everywhere and…fuck, it’s too damn easy to get to you there.”
She gives me a withering look. “I’m not going to be driven out of my home…again.”
“Dove—”
“Stop calling me that,” she snarls.
Hugh purses his lips as if trying to hide a smile. He isn’t successful. “Dr. Kirk, I can put a man outside your house, but…we’re a small police force, and I can’t?—”
“I’ll be fine alone, and I don’t trust yourmen,” she interjects. “I know how to use a gun. Ask Cade, he taught me.”
I remember that summer clear as yesterday—her braid swinging down her back, my .22 in her hands, her shoulders stiff until I stepped behind her, nudged her elbow, and told her to breathe. She hated the idea of shooting at first, but when the coyotes started coming for her dad’s calves, she didn’t flinch.
“She’s steadier than most men I’ve hunted with,” I tell Hugh and then give Sarah a pleading look. “Sarah, please, come live at Blue Rock.”
Her head snaps toward me. “I’m not staying at your house.”
The fire in her tone neither shocks nor surprises me. “Sarah?—”
“No.” Her arms lock tighter around herself, shoulders rigid. “Not in that house. Not where—” She breaks off, shaking her head hard. “I can’t, Cade. Don’t ask me.”
I drop my gaze, feeling helpless, hands fisting at my sides. “Fuck, Dove, it’s not the same house.”
“I don’t care,” she breathes.
Hugh looks between us, face lined with thought. “Then we’ll figure out another way. But listen to me—you both need to stay sharp. Whoever’s behind this? They’re uppin’ the stakes.”
When his deputy arrives with a couple of men and a tow truck, we walk back out. Joy stays in her boutique once Sarah convinces her that she’s fine.
We watch as Wiley bags the dog. The sight of it in Sarah’s truck makes bile rise in my throat. I can’t even begin to imagine how she’s feeling.
After they load up her vehicle to the tow truck, Hugh gestures toward his SUV. “Dr. Kirk, I’d like to go back to Blue Rock. I want to walk that feed room again. Make sure we’re not missin’ somethin’. Will you help me?”
Sarah hesitates for a long moment, and then, with her chin high, she nods her agreement.
I’m in awe of her courage, more and more with every minute.
“You want to drive with me or Hugh?” I ask softly.
I touch her elbow lightly. She doesn’t pull away. “With you.”
And that small mercy, like all the others she’s granted me, hurts as much as it soothes me.
